Wayward turkey smashes through window of Brookline home, escapes through the back

A wayward wild turkey made an action hero-style entrance at a Brookline house, smashing through the front window in front of a startled man and his dog. With a little help from a police officer, the bewildered bird eventually found its way out of an open window in the back of the house.

The turkey smashed through a double-paned window at the house on Addington Road around 6:30 p.m. April 28, leaving large holes in the screen and window shade, said Didi Coyle, who lives in the house.

Her husband, Tom Szydlowski, and their dog were sitting in the living room when the bird exploded through the glass. They were unhurt, but the turkey appeared to have lost about a teaspoon of blood. Coyle saw the incident from the outside; she was standing in her driveway with a neighbor when the bird barged in.

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“I was just sort of casually watching it and I realized it was aiming for my house,” said. “It’s a big old Victorian house, a pinkish color, so I can’t imagine it didn’t see the house.”

The uninvited guest startled the family’s 12-year-old collie, which appeared ready to attack before Coyle swiftly scooped the dog up and secured it in another room, she said.

While Coyle called police, the dazed turkey flew over Szydlowski’s head toward the back of the house, she said.

A Brookline police officer soon arrived and managed to corner the bird in a bathroom. The officer opened a back window and the turkey exited the house in a slightly more graceful manner than it had arrived, Coyle said.

Turkeys are common in Brookline, but Coyle said she had never heard of one flying through a window.